Bag adapted for display by suspension



April 13, 1948.` H, F, SHUMAVNN 2,439,584

BAG ADAPTED FOR DISPLAY BY SUSPENSION Filed NOV. 14, 1944 Harold 1;' sh umm 5 I i gnam/1M Patented Apr.y i3, I 1948 It is an object ,of -thisinvention to. provide-an end closure for a flattened 'tubejfinrwhich"4 the material of the tube itself will iorma loop whereby the package may bek suspended from'a hook inadisplayrack. f

It is a further object of this inventiontoprovide an improved closure embodying'the fea-v tures aforesaid togetherwithan"added feature whereby the 4bagis also adapted to besecured on a different type of display rack;

The above and other objects `will`bemade clear from the following `detail description taken in connection with the annexed'drawin'gs', in whiche j Figure 1 `is a perspective view showing a bag having an improved closure engaged {with the hook of the displayrack," A j e V Figure 2 is a, longitudinal section through the bag and end closure,

as many as desired afterfull opportunity to in"- spect the same. These packages are usually substantially transparent and are` formed of material treated for imperviousness" andwhich is `ustially heat sealable on both surfaces. V l The most common -form of" display lrackinvolves a number of outwardly projectingrods or wires. Heretofore itl has beencustomary to apply at one end of the bag one or two relatively wide folds heldin place by staples passing through the folds and through the body of the bag -at points spaced inwardlyfrom the extremity of the bag. 'I'his is usually donemanually and leaves a passage at the end of the bag through which the rod or wire may be inserted without too much trouble. This expedient is, however, defective in several respects. In the first place the material of the bag is usuallynot excessively strong so that a double i'old is necessary tol provide sufilcient material to assure ilrm engagement of the staples. In'the second place. the `material is relatively expensive and that material which goes into the extra folds is wasted so far as bag capacity is concerned. In the third place, the passage of the staples through the material tends to destroy the tightness of the seal and therefore largely to destroy the hermetic `eiect of the expensive impervious material of which the bag is made.

It is conventional in iiattened square bags.`

whether or fnot #formed `of heatsealabi `material `to closerthef endf'by 'turningfone? 'eidiff the-tube b acl 'against thebody fbi the tube and` eithenpastingorlheat sealingthesame in thatposition,` IAS this step" is accomplished," however," f there'ds 1al- 'ways formed a sharpcrease vline atthe folded=`end of thebelgfand `thel manual dic'ultyfiinf opening the material of fthe"-c'1osure` adjacent: thecrease line renders theuseiofsuchclosuresimpracticable in conjunction with racks; as above described vlPreferably,` though byfno` meansA` necessarily, the improved closure v`:of the 'instantfinvention \is `formed duringthe manufacture of thebag-itself. Any printedfmatter appearing "onthe `ba`g-1wi11, `under such circumstances, be soplaced `thatyfthe end closedwduring manufacture `willfconstitute the top of the -ilnished andlillledbag. `@.l'Iiheopenlend through which the bag is-illled mayfthen benclosed by any conventional method and meansw It; is,

however, entirelylpossiblelto form ibags having 'conventional end? vclosures `and then fafterifllling, to apply" theiimp'roved closures of this :invention atthe top endl I "i "1l Referringe'now to Figures therefis "af bag l Il suspendedirom` a rod ornvwire [21u/ nich isattached to a display rack I4.. 'Ifhetbagelhasa conventional bottom closure If fand one; :oft the *improved closures `I il!` inengagement with 'the' wire 'orrod I2.V "f

- shown particularly` in? @Figure 2, .ftheyabag `Il)` has a frontfwall 2li andliawrearlwallr22:1;At the end l'fthesekwalls` areifolded backtagainst th'e rear w`a1l`22 and areheat sealedrtoeachtother an'dtothewall 22am `the area124l- Theiolding 'is accomplished iwithout, the formation ofi` a; :crease or a specic fold line so that there is leitapassage` 26 which may be opened easily'for'admission ofthe r0d'12.` Obviously, theouteramargin 24' of 'the area 24 must be spacedV from `thezextrex'nity y y, r i ,l .n E Referring nowto Figure 3, the walls 20wand 122 are "showni-onfopposite sides of-1a13formr `plate in about which'fa continuous :tubelisl formedby conventional methods. A portionV off`wa1l`s2`ii and 22 corresponding tothe end |8"ishfed--iutwardly beyond the` end `32 of the former p1ate1'30a,` While in this `condition a primary foldingmembertll turns the end` "I 8` upwardly at rightangles tos the former plate 30." Immediately thereaftenfa folding member 30 `moves fromits dotted lineposition 38" to the position shownfinf Figure 3win which its leading edge 31 is substantially `in'fthe samevertical plane with the leading end 32 of `the former plate `3i). The folder 36` is of substantial thickness and its leading edge 'lfisrounded. A folding member `4I) movesfromits dotted line position 40' to the position shown inligure `3, thusfolding the end? I8 around theroundededge `I'I 'of the'member 38. Members 3B `andlil` then retreat to their dotted line positions 3B"andl|l' as shown in Figure 4. Of these. the upper member 60 'which is directly in contact with the end lo is heated and thereby seais the wan 2n to me wall 22 which, in turn, is sealed to itself, leaving the relatively open and accessible passageway 2B.

As a matter of machine timing, the upper presser bar B will arrive at a position in which it will prevent re-folding 'of the end i8 while there is still a slight overlapping of the members 3B and 40. These members 38 and 40 then complete their withdrawing motions while the pressure member t0 descends to complete the seal.

It will be noted that the presence of the former plate e@ prevents sealing or blocking oi the interior of the bag in the-area in which member |50 seals the end i8. This materially increases the capacity of the bag and represents the out standing reason why it is preferable to form the improved closure during manufacture where the structure of the machine permits the seal to take place while the interior is shielded. If the bag has been illled and the improved closure is applied as a top" closure there would 'be no way to shield the interior of the bag, and blocking would inevitably occur in the area 2li. It should be noted that this aiects only the capacity of the bag and does not aiect the functioning oi the loop or passage 25 at the .bag end.

'I'he display rack heretofore described is the one in most common use. In certain sections of the country, however, a ydifferent form is used and bags sold in these territories should be designed for coaction with such racks. The two structures are, of course, independently usable, but for corivenience of manufacture it is desirable in many cases to provide the bags with both features so that a given bag may be used with either form of display rack. 4

Such a bag is illustrated in Figure 5. n this iigure there is shown a bag |00, having a. front wall |02 and a rear wall |04. At one end, thel iront land rear walls are folded along two distinct score lines it and |08 to provide a two ply portion Ii extending generally normal tothe plane of the walls |04 and |02. This structure would result from making the end 3l of the member 36 in Figure 3 rectangular instead of round as shown.

The end |06 of the wall id and the end |102 of the wall |02 are folded back against the wall |04 along the score lines it and it. While in this position heat and pressure are applied, by members such as 50 and et illustrated in Figure 4, to the stippled area H2. The application of heat and pressure, however, is regulated so that end |02' is sealed to end |013' throughout the area H2, while the end it is sealed to the wall i045 only in that portion of the area H2 extending inwardly from the edges of the bag to lines f and h-t, respectively. This leaves the portion of ends |02' and ille', between lines f-f and h-h, completely free of wall |04, while the bottom of the bag is completely closed due to the seal between ends |02' and il'i'.

A display rack hook may be inserted in the channelbetween end it' and wall idd and between lines f-f and h--h.in which case the hook will bear against the portion iii), which portion will directly support the weight of the package. This is enormously stronger support than is afforded by prior art structures in which the weight of the package is supported by a seal between the end |04' and the wall iM which seal, extending 4 between lines f-f and h-h, would define a pocket rather than a channel. In addition to an increase in strength, the cost o! the bag is materially lowered due to the fact that a narrower turnover in material at the end is required when it is not necessary to allow for a seal between the end of the bag and the pocket between the -lines f-f and h-h. Under prior art practice, the edge l I4 would have to extend to line L--L, Figure 5, to accommodate such a seal.

It has been found that the portion |10 deilned by score lines |08 and |08 offers considerable resistance to crushing of the loop at the bag end during stacking and shipping. Such anti-crushing tendency is enhanced when the bags are stacked end to end, that is, with the open mouth oi one bag adjacent to the terminus H4 of the end fold of the next adjacent bag.

The terms top, bottom front and rear" as used herein are intended purely for the purpose of reference in diilerentlating elements of the bag and are not intended to have any function-al significance such as ordinarily attaches to these terms. While for simplicity of illustration, this invention has been described with reference to :dat bags, it is clear that every principle herein discussed is equally applicable to gussetted bags. The invention has also been described primarily with reference to heat sealing and it is in that connection that the invention will have its greatest utility. It is. however, perfectly feasible to apply the principles herein discussed t0 pasted bags. The claim, therefore, shall be taken to include gussetted bags and pasted closures.

I claim:

A bag comprising: a ilattened tube formed of moisture-proof,` flexible material, the walls of said tube being sealed together at one end to form a closure, the sealed closure being turned against the body of the tube to form an open, crease-free loop forming a relatively narrow channel across the entire width of the tube, said closure being secured to the body of the tube in areas. spaced longitudinally of the tube from the turned extremity of the tube so as not to obstruct the narrow channel dei-ined by said loop and being mutually spaced on opposite sides oi the center line oi' the tube to deilne between themselves, the tube body and said closure a relatively broad channel communicating with said relatively narrow channel, said narrow channel being sized to receive a supporting rod or wire of one type of display rack and said broad channel being sized to receive a supporting plate of a different type of dlsplay rack.

HAROLD F. SHUMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany Sept. 8, 1928 

